Nice to meet you CM , these are what we came up with

Mrs G and I went for a walk around the stadium, all we could say was WOW!!! , the whole time we were there we couldnt stop smiling, it is superb close up , and a credit to Mr McManus and the board who have produced it

we started walking past Tesco`s , this is the view you will get coming from the McDonalds end




then we came across the mysterious red glass panels we have heard about , they dont seem to be in any kind of a pattern





they still look very stylish

as you can see you can now get quite close to the stadium



Mrs g couldnt resist touching the stadium (her first chance)



and a look at the bridgeworks




a section of the walkway


OK I will own up I couldnt resist hugging the stadium either !!icon_surprised.gif()icon_smile.gif



Ticket office looks really nice



as does what i think is the cafe bar



the mysterious hologram turns out to be a projection of some kind , i like the "Ex Terra Lucem" under it though



between the lift doors in the main reception is this plaque



stairway to heaven from the top



se turnstiles



and a couple of pictures of KC

Now onto "THE KINGS CORNER"

Magnificent.





THE KINGS CORNER features a wonderful open space with a rich red crushed glass surface. It looks like a giant red carpet.
I can imagine this being a place to congregate and meet up pre match. A place for small scale open air exhibitions, or just a performing space for street performers.



After being somewhat overwhelmed by the above, i decided i needed to be brought back down to Earth a bit.

For the first time i got a close up view of the West stand area.
The gap between Tesco's and the new stadium is indeed small but is still large enough to drive a bus between if need be.





The West and North stands look somewhat naked, utilitarian and lacking in the pageantry of their more illustrious Southern neighbour.
Its like coming from the Hermitage, to visiting a tower block.










end of part 2

All that greyness was depressing me, i needed more colour, so back i went to THE KINGS CORNER.



I decided to take a walk down the BOULEVARD OF SAINTS and followed a BMW that decided that the footpath would make a nice road to drive down.



The driver of the car was lucky that one of the "Sleeping policemen" was actually asleep.



walking along this path one comes across another carpet of red



note the wooden benches on the gabions. I just hope this is designated a no alcohol area, so that it remains a family friendly area on matchday.
Otherwise i just see see chav's galore descending on Tesco's for cheap Ale, before using this area to drink, urinate and fight in. I suppose the red floor would then hide the pools of blood.



Looking back at the stadium from just beyond this point however is a joy to behold

Seems as though a few of us was around about the same time taking pics. These are my contributions
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/georgehopkins/6291791961/[/url
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/georgehopkins/6291791961/StileKing_edited-1[/url by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/georgehopkins/Judder Hopkins[/url, on Flickr

Looking down the South Stand

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/georgehopkins/6292313274/[/url
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/georgehopkins/6292313274/SouthStand_edited-1[/url by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/georgehopkins/Judder Hopkins[/url, on Flickr

Now onto the bridgework

From the Tesco's you can see the ramp and preparations underway to lift the bridge stanchions into place. This pic also gives a good idea of how close the new stadium will be to the town centre, which can clearly be seen in the background



The footbridge rests on the back of a lorry, while Mr and Mrs Gruntfuttock are snapping away



The bridge supports look like a giant set of ribs, lets hope they help breath new life into the town centre of St.Helens.



close up of the footbridge, magnificently resplendent in red and white.





Bridge works ongoing






Finally i must end with a brief snagging report

This lamp post seems somewhat worse for wear, missing not only a lamp but being bent and buckled






I noticed while looking inside that there is exposed wiring still were electrical sockets have not been fitted.
Some of the white walkway also looks of poor quality as well.

Worst of all though was this abomination



Just look at it. How dare such an affront to Saints be placed close to the main entrance. Have people not learned from when Pilks hoisted the pie petard on one of their chimneys. Get this repainted at once.

As usual you nice and helpful people what wonderful photos and good comments. I have been supporting Saints and R.L. for a very long time.( over 6icon_cool.gif years and I was regretting the end of Knowsley Road even though I knew that we needed a new Stadium and I will miss it but I am being overwhelmed by the wonderful new Stadium
.Thanks

Absolutely stunning photos Chair Maker. Thanks for posting them. I really must wander up to the stadium tomorrow and take a closer look.

Shame about the lamp post. I may email that to Saints, just in case they haven't noticed it yet! They could haul the contractors a$$ back to fix up those bits and pieces of poor finishing. The place cost enough; they should have completed the job properly.

I got told today thst the bridge was opened tonight.

Anyone know if true?

fantastic pics ALL.
thanks for sharing.
very much appreciated.

The actual footbridge has been fitted today, however it is not yet free standing as the support pillars are not yet in place. I understand this work will be done next weekend. So it is not yet open to the public.

It is going to be a very impressive structure though and will be a fine gateway into St.Helens

Ok, I had txt off a mate saying all press was there and he thought it was being opened.

Does anyone know if both ends of the bridge will have styles etc.?

I can just picture the local scroates razzing across the bridge on motor bikes and wrecking it.

I was speaking to the engineer who designed the bridge last week. Apparently the lighting can be changed and the light fittings are the same as those used in the Empire States Building in NYC.

The bridge is also a cycle path so I think it will be clear at both sides.

Good to see reference on the plaques and 'hologram' to St Helens, should reassure all those who panicked we were selling our souls with the new Saints RL rebranding.

It would not surprise me if your mate noticed all the people out and about today taking photo's of the bridge and new stadium and put two and two together and came up with five

The chap i was speaking too said it would take 5 weekends to get it all put together

My concern is the local chavs using the stadium open area as an "adventure playground". Especially at the back of the North Stand car park area, I assume there will be CCTV installed or maybe some 24 hour security. Tesco will probably have there own but I,m not sure of the clubs facility over this area.

there IS CCTV all around the stadium and I am sure Saints after building a £25 million pound stadium will employ some rent a cops to patrol it and make sure the local "characters" do not enjoy themselves at the clubs expense

As to day was a fine day, i decided to take some more piccies.

ill start as i ended my last update with the negative.

Another dodgy lightpost. This one has no hat



I am also sad to report that the Shite hawks have taken up residence and are using the stadium as a toilet.
The black cladding is covered in pigeon poo
Keiron seems to have escaped so far, however it wont be long i fear before he gets a white crown.

Here are my pics from THE KINGS CORNER











The main entrance showing the two lift shafts



The cafe bar, in the second pic you can see a set of double doors leading into the club shop.





A couple of shots of the walk from the Tesco's





Now onto the Bridge.

















Looking down from the bridge ramp to the Tesco's

Are there any plans for the old kiln? It would make a superb pub and connect very well with the St. Helens glass making/bottle-making, industries/heritage.

No plans beyond making it safe and fencing it off, with the state of the place inside it would take a lot of money to make a pub out of it, just too many years of neglect , basically all there is left is the brickwork, vitrually nothing else, this thread should gioive you an idea of how dialpedated it is and how much of it is underground its huge www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/sho ... ngton+shaw

No plans beyond making it safe and fencing it off, with the state of the place inside it would take a lot of money to make a pub out of it, just too many years of neglect , basically all there is left is the brickwork, vitrually nothing else, this thread should gioive you an idea of how dialpedated it is and how much of it is underground its huge www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/sho ... ngton+shaw

Cant stay away from the place,so here are a few more pictures


main reception desk,, (sorry about the reflection)



the beautiful pitch taken through one of the big doorways



a couple of pictures from the retail park





Kings corner as someone has named it rather appropriate i think as you can now say KC`s corner




and the bridgeworks are preceeding well , men working today



from lyons yard



and a view from tesco`s , a hive of activity as they are opening tomorrow

Same thinking for me, decent weather this afternoon so got some decent lenses out. The Stadium in Autumn Coat so to speak, the security blokes were a bit bored walking around the place as they all came across chatting because I had the camera on a tripod.

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/georgehopkins/6295691062/[/url
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/georgehopkins/6295691062/SaintsStadium2_edited-1[/url by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/georgehopkins/Judder Hopkins[/url, on Flickr

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/georgehopkins/6295162187/[/url
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/georgehopkins/6295162187/SaintsStadium1 copy_edited-1[/url by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/georgehopkins/Judder Hopkins[/url, on Flickr

Looks chuffing marvellous, and well done to the guys who have uploaded photos for the last million years (or so it seems

)
If I remember correctly, Warrington's east stand wasn't completely finished by the handover date, it was boarded off at the north corner for a while... Sure it will be cladded and finished soon.
Despite it ruining my day every time I went to Knowsley Road as a Wire fan, it was a great traditional RL ground with a great atmosphere, hopefully you can generate something similar at the new place.

Parked up at Tesco this morning and had a good walk around the ground.You don't really appreciate the size and scale of the development until you get up close-well done to all those who made it happen.Looking at the nw and ne corners it's a good thing the cladding is being done because as has been said these areas are quite vulnerable to the weather.

One small observation about the new roundabout.When you leave Tesco,cars and other vehicles are flying round it at 30mph plus from the town side carriageway making it pretty dicey getting out.